University Planning Archaeology Center

January 23, 2004|By GRACE E. MERRITT; Courant Staff Writer

STORRS — UConn plans to open an archaeology center to store and display artifacts from Native American villages, underwater shipwrecks and other pieces of the state's history, and allow students to take classes and get hands-on experience handling the collections.

The Connecticut Archaeologist Center is scheduled to open next fall in the state Museum of Natural History at the University of Connecticut near Gampel Pavilion, state archaeologist Nicholas Bellantoni said Thursday.

UConn plans to renovate the second and third floors of the historic building, known to older alumni as the Apple Sales building, into state-of-the art labs, classrooms, offices and exhibit spaces to show off extensive collections.

``We have nothing like that in the state of Connecticut, and we think it is going to be something kind of special,'' Bellantoni said.

The center would house and exhibit the state's extensive collections, including Peruvian and Inuit artifacts and P.T. Barnum's collection of Native American artifacts, Bellantoni said. It would give students hands-on experience and provide academic programming geared toward archaeology and anthropology.

The center would also provide training and resources for elementary and secondary school teachers and technical training to local communities. The state office of archaeology, now located elsewhere on campus, would move into the new center and continue its work protecting state archaeological sites.

The renovation, still in the planning stages, is projected to cost $200,000 to $400,000, paid for with university money and private donations, Bellantoni said. It would be the first step in upgrading the museum. A major expansion of the museum is planned as part of the $1.3 billion 21st Century UConn program.

The archaeology center is to be modeled on a similar facility at the University of South Carolina. UConn's version would be smaller than the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, he said.